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05.20.12

Obama: ‘Hard Days’ Ahead in Afghanistan

Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images

Prior to world leaders gathering Sunday at the NATO summit in Chicago, President Obama sat down to discuss what is sure to be one of the hot-button topics of the weekend: Afghanistan. In a meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Obama warned of “hard days” ahead for the combative nation, detailing the next steps to come in the Middle East. The president said that the end of the war there is in sight, but that American forces “have a lot of work to do” prior to a 2014 handoff to the Afghans. Some 130,000 foreign troops are currently based in Afghanistan, mostly working to fight a Taliban-led insurgency. “There will be no rush for the exits, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen assured, echoing Obama’s sentiment.